NEWS ITEMS AFFECTING GAYS AND LESBIANS

FOR THE YEAR 2001: JAN to MAR

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News of 2001-JAN:

2001-JAN-10: California: A few parents opt out of gay education: In
an attempt to combat homophobia before (or when) it starts, California
law now allows for children in kindergarten and higher grades of
public schools to be
taught about sexual orientation. The Pacific Justice Institute,
a conservative Christian legal group, in cooperation with other
similar organizations, has designed an opt-out form. It is designed so
that parents can specify what topics they want their children to be not taught. The beliefs of conservative
Christians about sexual orientation tend to differ significantly
from the beliefs shared by almost all gays, lesbians, educators,
physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, religious liberals, human
sexuality researchers, etc. So it is quite common for conservative
Christian parents to want to prevent their children from learning
about homosexuality from a medical/liberal perspective. As of 2001-JAN, only 2,000 parents have requested a form;
this is a miniscule percentage of the total parents in California. 1,2

2001-JAN-11: Lesbian couple asked for name change: According
to Focus on the Family, a Fundamentalist Christian group,a
lesbian couple in New Jersey obtained a civil union in Vermont,
returned home, and asked a judge to grant them a common name. He
refused, saying that a name change would give the appearance that the
couple was married. They are appealing the decision with legal help
from the American Civil Liberties Union. "Focus"
quotes Matt Daniels, executive director of Alliance for Marriage.
He estimates that about 750 out of the 1,000 civil unions that have
been performed to date involve out-of-state couples. He fears that
this request for a name change could lead to other actions outside of
Vermont directed at making civil unions recognized throughout the U.S. 3

2001-JAN-15: Canada: A a gay and a lesbian couple marry -
sort of: Rev. Brent Hawkes, minister of the Metropolitan Community Church in
Toronto, ON, married a lesbian couple and a gay couple,
mentioned above in the report dated JAN-10.

In an editorial on 2000-DEC-7, the Toronto Star commented:

"...it is hard to see how a
union of two loving, committed gay people would degrade the institution
of legal matrimony. Toronto's Christian gay community has taken a bold
and provocative step. It will make a lot of people uncomfortable. But
this is often how progress begins."

Some 80 representatives of the media were on hand to
record the event. Police handled one bomb threat, observed six protestors,
and arrested a woman who was charged
with assault. Evangelical pastor Rev. Kenneth
Campbell called the weddings "blasphemous." Howard Hampton, leader of the NDP
(Socialist) party in Ontario urged the Provincial and Federal governments
to register the marriages. He commented: "The state has no place
in the chapels of the nation." Kevin Bourassa sent an e-mail to
Canada's Governor-General, Adrienne Clarkson, inviting her to attend his
wedding. One of
her staff members replied, saying that Ms. Clarkson was unable to attend,
but that she conveyed best wishes. Bishop Gerald Wiesner of Prince George,
B.C., the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops,
then wrote a strongly worded complaint to the Governor-General and the
Prime Minister. He wrote, in part:

"Canadians should be able to expect the Governor-General to
respect and uphold their basic values and laws. However, this
controversial action by the office of the Governor-General offends most
faiths, almost all of which believe that marriage by definition is the
sacred union of a man and a woman, and is also at odds with Canadian
civil and legal tradition." Douglas Elliott, lawyer for the
Metropolitan Community Church, said it is unfortunate that the Catholic
bishops are trying to draw Ms. Clarkson into controversy.

Compiler's note: The Bishop made no reference to
the main document which defines Canadian "basic values and
laws:" the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It prohibits
discrimination against gays and lesbians. Many faith groups oppose gay and
lesbian marriages. But then, many such groups also prohibit women from
holding positions of power. Most Canadian adults approve of same-sex
marriages. More details on this marriage.

2001-JAN-30: Georgia: Association maintains link to
gay-positive churches: On rare occasions, individual Southern
Baptist congregations will conduct deep studies of homosexuality.
Often, they determine that the homophobic policies of their
association are not justified in light of either the Bible or human
sexuality research. Virginia-Highland and Oakhurst churches in
Georgia were two such congregations. They stress the sexual
orientation of homosexuals, rather than their behavior. They openly
accept homosexuals as deacons and Sunday school teachers. They
perform same-sex unions for committed couples. In response, the Georgia
Baptist Convention expelled the two congregations in 1999 for
"affirming, approving and endorsing homosexual behavior."
This decision was the first dismissal by the Convention of a
congregation in its 177 year history. violated centuries of Baptist
belief and practice; Baptists have traditionally recognized local
church autonomy in matters of belief and practice. On JAN-30, the Atlanta
Baptist Association decided maintain the membership and
affiliation with the two expelled churches. The results of the
secret ballot were 253 to164. James Merritt, president of the Southern
Baptist Convention, commented: "They have failed to do
their spiritual and moral duty." 4

News of 2001-FEB:

2001-FEB-4: Mass. Anti-gay vandalism at church: According
to the Boston Globe for FEB-5, nearly 1,000 people gathered at the First
Parish Unitarian Universalist Church for a candlelight vigil to
protest recent antigay vandalism of church signs. On JAN-27 "someone
twice drew swastikas over two rainbow triangles that symbolize the
church's openness to gays and lesbians. After members of the
Unitarian Universalist church cleaned off the graffiti, vandals drew
new swastikas over the triangles and stole a rainbow flag later that
evening. The Rev. Katie Lee Crane of First Parish said people came
from all over the state to show their solidarity with the church." 5

2001-FEB-15: Texas: No equal benefits for same-sex partners: According
to the Houston Chronicle: Earlier in February, Lee Brown, the mayor of Houston
TX withdrew a proposal to give equal benefits for same-sex partners. Houstonians
for Family Values has started a petition campaign to prevent the city from
ever adopting a similar policy. Dave Wilson leads the campaign. He said
"Homosexual behavior is a sin." As he was interviewed, he was
flanked by two activists who had protested with anti-gay signs, saying that
homosexuals recruit children and implying that they will burn in Hell. Gay
activist Clarence Bagby commented: "We're bracing ourselves for the
kind of hatefulness, ironically in the name of religion, that these kinds of
campaigns generate."

2001-FEB-21: Massachusetts/Canada: Ambassador appointment opposed:President Bush has nominated Governor Paul Cellucci, the Governor of
Massachusetts, to be the U.S. ambassador to Canada. Some Fundamentalist
Christian groups are opposing this appointment, because of the anti-bigotry
and sex-ed programs in that state. Massachusetts has a state-wide program to
teach respect for minorities, including sexual minorities. Of particular
concern to the Fundamentalists was a youth seminar for gays and lesbians which
was held at Tuft's University. Two Department of Education employees conducted
a safe-sex seminar for youths ages 14 to 22 in which various homosexual acts
were discussed, along with techniques of disease protection. Bob Knight,
spokesperson with the Family Research Council said:"Governor
Cellucci is no less a homosexual activist. He may not be homosexual himself,
but he has promoted the homosexual agenda and he's done it in a way that
should make most Americans angry. He's done it peddling this stuff to
children." They feel that the Governor should have cancelled or
reduced the respect and sex-ed programs during his tenure.

2001-FEB-14: Vermont: Gag rule proposed for public schools:Outright Vermont is a
gay-positive non-profit group in the state. They had obtained a government grant to fund
diversity workshops in public schools. The workshops are "conducted by
invitation of school officials" and "stressed tolerance and
diversity." Some Republican state legislators criticized the
workshops, claiming that the group was spreading the "homosexual agenda."
Commenting on the workshops, Education Commissioner David
Wolk denied that there was any agenda to teach homosexuality in schools and said
school officials were responsible by law to create a safe, civil and respectful
environment for all Vermont students. Wolk said: ' ...there is no homosexual agenda in the schools.
What we have is a respect agenda. That's what it was before [civil unions] law
passed and that's what it is today.' " Representative Nancy Sheltra, (R-Derby) said: "The schools in the first place should not be getting up [sic] to talk about homosexual
issues. It's an academic setting, there's no reason it should be discussed." 35 Representatives have introduced a bill stating (in an apparent violation
of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution): No employee or agent of a
school district shall instruct, counsel or advise a student that a homosexual or
bisexual orientation is innate or unchangeable." 6

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News of 2001-MAR:

2001-MAR-1: Anti-gay comic book ready for mass distribution:Chick
Publications, is long known for distributing hate literature which attacks
religious liberals and Neopagans. They have now
produced an anti-gay mini-comic book. It portrays a decent, gentle, black,
Bible carrying, well dressed, law-abiding, conservative Christian who held up a
sign at a gay parade stating "Homosexuality is an abomination: See
Lev[iticus] 20:13." (There is no reference to some of the other Biblical
passages in Leviticus that also condemn as "an abomination" such
behaviors as wearing cotton-polyester clothing, sowing a lawn with mixed grass
seed, eating shell fish, etc.) Some gays, portrayed as nasty bullies, and the
police viciously beat the Christian. He is charged with committing a hate
crime, and lands up in the hospital. [Some conservative Christian organizations
promote the invalid belief that simple religious speech can be considered a
hate crime.] A gay-positive pastor is introduced; he is described as a minister
of Satan. The pastor claims that "right wing extremists deliberately changed
the Bible story of Sodom." Surprisingly, the pastor quotes Ezekiel 16:49
which is one of a number of Bible verses which reveals that Sodom was destroyed
because of arrogance towards the needy and inhospitality towards visitors. A
"real" Christian arrives, exorcises the hospital room, recites Jude 7, and
explains that homosexuality is a special sin that is far worse than alls. A
demon flees the room. The pastor sees the light, and feels guilty for all of
the young people that he had enticed into "the gay lifestyle," and "ruined."
A parting shot is made at non-Christian religions who are leading all of their
followers to Hell. Finally, the pastor repents of his "sin" and accepts
Jesus as Lord and Savior. The comic book can be viewed online. 7

2001-MAR-2: Religiously affiliated university grants same-sex benefits: Southern Methodist University, a Dallas TX university affiliated with the United Methodist Church announced that it would offer medical benefits
and reduced tuition to same-sex partners of employees -- the same benefits as
heterosexual married couples have enjoyed. About 150 of the nation's 3,300
colleges and universities have similar policies. But they are rare among
educational institutions affiliated with religious denominations. 8

2001-MAR-6: Civil union bill introduced in California legislature: Paul
Koretz, (D), has introduced a bill that would create civil unions in
California. It would be similar to the one implemented
in Vermont. State Senator William Knight, (R), criticized the bill,
saying: "It appears Assemblyman Koretz is trying to circumvent
Proposition 22...It may be illegal. If that doesn't undermine marriage, I
don't know what does." [Editor's note: Actually, there
does not appear to be a conflict. Proposition 22 relates to heterosexual
marriage; the proposed bill relates only to homosexual civil unions.] 8

2001-MAR-18: Texas sodomy law upheld: A law in Texas allows
heterosexual couples to engage in oral or anal intercourse, but
forbids gays and lesbians from engaging in the same activities. The
appellate court upheld the law, ruling that the legislature had a
legitimate interest to legislate morality in the community.

2001-MAR-23: Arkansas sodomy law declared unconstitutional: A state
law criminalized oral and anal sex, but only when performed by
homosexuals. Pulaski County Circuit Judge David Bogar declared the law
unconstitutional because it violated the principle of equal protection, by
singling out gays and lesbians. Judge Bogar wrote: "The people of
Arkansas have the right to legislate on issues involving morals, but
homosexuality is not only a question of morals....Perhaps it is repugnant to
heterosexuals to contemplate persons of the same sex engaging privately in
oral or anal sex; however, to enact a law in Arkansas which criminalizes such
conduct between consenting adults violates the Arkansas constitution."
The penalties under the law were a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

2001-MAR-27: NEA to support gay and lesbian needs: The National
Education Association is expected to consider a resolution in
support of the development of school curriculum and programs for gay
and lesbian students at its national convention in July. It will be
similar to initiatives previously taken by the NEA in support of
women, other minority groups and people with disabilities. Spokesperson
Wendy Wright of the Fundamentalist Christian agency Concerned Women
For America opposes the NEA program to reduce homophobia in the
classroom. She commented that the NEA seems "...to be obsessed
with reorienting kids away from their parents' values."

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